1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of a replacement component used in a printer communicating with a controller of the printer, and a method of a controller of a printer communicating with a replacement component used in a printer, and more particularly, to a method of a replacement component used in a printer communicating with the controller of the printer, in which information communication is allowed after a predetermined authorization procedure is satisfactorily performed, and a method of a controller of a printer communicating with a replacement component used in a printer.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a general printer.
Referring to FIG. 1, a printer comprises a photosensitive belt 11, a discharging device 12, a charger 13, laser scanning units 14, developing units 15, a drying unit 16, a transfer unit 17, and an ink supplying unit 18.
The printing steps of the above printer will be described.
The discharging unit 12 emits light to the circulating photosensitive belt 11 to remove an electrostatic latent image remaining on the photosensitive belt 11.
The charger 13 charges the photosensitive belt 11 to a predetermined potential so that a new electrostatic latent image can be formed in the subsequent step.
The laser scanning units 14 selectively illuminate the photosensitive belt 11 to form an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive belt 11, and the developing units 15 develop the electrostatic latent image with liquid developer.
The drying unit 16 is employed in a printer which uses a mixture of a liquid carrier and a toner as a liquid developer, and absorbs and dries the liquid carrier remaining on the photosensitive belt 11.
The transfer unit 17 transfers a toner image formed on the photosensitive belt 11 to a paper sheet 19.
The ink supplying unit 18 comprises a container 18e for supplying a liquid carrier to the developing units 15, and containers 18a, 18b, 18c, and 18d for storing concentrated liquid developers or toners of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black colors, respectively.
Among the devices participating in printing operations, components, such as the photosensitive belt 11, characteristics of which deteriorate as the components grow old, must be replaced at an appropriate time. However, the conditions of using the photosensitive belt 11 properly may vary with the manufacturer thereof, or the type thereof. The conditions include, for example, the potential level which must be maintained at the photosensitive belt 11 so that an electrostatic latent image can be formed on the photosensitive belt 11, the intensity of light for illuminating the photosensitive belt 11 so that an electrostatic latent image can be formed on the photosensitive belt 11, etc. Therefore, it is required that the operation conditions of individual units, for example, the discharging device 12, the charger 13, the laser scanning units 14, and the like are adjusted according to the using conditions of the installed photosensitive belt 11 after the new photosensitive belt 11 is installed in the printer. In order to meet such requirements, a memory (not shown) storing the characteristic information of the photosensitive belt 11 is supplied together with the photosensitive belt 11 for replacement so that a controller (not shown) which controls the devices of the printer can read the content of the memory. However, since the information recorded in the memory may be leaked or changed maliciously during the circulation thereof, it is necessary to limit access to the recorded information.
Another replaceable component is a developer supplying container for containing and supplying a consumable developer. The characteristics of a developer stored in a developer supplying container may vary with the manufacturer thereof, or the type thereof. When a developer supplying container provided with a memory in which information concerning the development conditions of the developer contained therein is supplied as a consumable, there is also a problem in which the information recorded in the memory may be leaked or changed maliciously during the circulation thereof.
When erroneous information is recorded in the memory supplied together with a component, a printer utilizing this information may make a printing error or an operation error.
To solve the above problems, it is an objective of the present invention to provide a method of a replacement component used in a printer communicating with a controller of the printer, and a method of a controller of a printer communicating with a replacement component used in a printer, in which recorded information concerning the new component is accessible only after a predetermined authorization procedure is satisfactorily performed.
Accordingly, to achieve the above objective, there is provided a method of a replacement component used in a printer communicating with a controller of the printer, the replacement component comprising a memory module in which predetermined information is recorded for being used by the controller of the printer, the memory module being installed on the replacement component so that the memory module can communicate with the controller via a communication interface, the method including the steps of: (a) the memory module deciding whether or not a predetermined password signal is in information received from the controller; and (b) the memory module communicating with the controller when the password signal is in the received information in step (a).
Preferably, the method further includes the steps of: the memory module counting the number of times the controller tries to communicate with the memory module by means of erroneous information, when the preset password signal does not exist in step (a); and the memory module deleting the information recorded therein when the number of trials by the controller reaches a preset value. In addition, it is preferable that in the step of deleting the information, the memory module also deletes the password information recorded therein for comparison.
In addition, to achieve the above objective, there is provided a method of a controller of a printer communicating with a replacement component used in a printer, the printer comprising the replacement component, and a controller installed at the printer so that the controller can communicate, via a communication interface, with a memory module which is provided in the replacement component and in which predetermined information is recorded, the method including the steps of: (a) the controller transmitting a preset password signal to the memory module of the installed replacement component; (b) the controller deciding whether or not a preset communication allowing signal is received from the memory module to correspond to the transmitted password signal; and (c) the controller communicating with the memory module and receiving the information recorded in the memory module when the controller decides that the communication allowing signal is received in step (b).
Preferably, the method further includes the step of the controller displaying a message that the replacement component is bad on a display device of the printer when the communication allowing signal is not received in step (b).
In addition, the method further includes the step of the controller controlling the memory module so that the communication allowing signal recorded in the memory can be changed, when the controller receives all the information recorded in the memory module in step (c).